17.10.2017 Ankara
TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, assessing the enactment of the Labor Courts Draft Bill and the implementation of mandatory mediation practice, stressed that the conditions for mediation should be sought before bringing trade disagreements to court. Hisarcıklıoğlu thanked the ruling party and opposition parties for their contributions.
TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu gave a statement regarding the
enactment of the Labor Courts Draft Bill, saying, “Business cases involving which
took two years to finalize will be resolved in a day or two with this
arrangement; workers and employers who provide production and services for many
years together will solve the disputes without going through the judiciary system
with mediation. In mediation, the parties will shake hands, not as adversaries,
because they will make their own decisions. I would like to thank the ruling
party, the opposition parties and everyone who contributed to this endeavor.”
The TOBB President pointed out the importance of learning some of the
changes brought about by the Labor Courts Law in detail and pointed out that
the application of mediation would now be sought as a condition for the
recruitment of workers based on the law or individual or collective employment
contract. In order to apply to the mediator, the claimant or compensation claim
will have to arise from a business relationship.
Hisarcıklıoğlu said, “Worker's compensation such as seniority, notice
and remuneration such as overtime, annual leave; the employer will also take
the claim to the mediator before filing a claim for compensation items.
Compensation claims arising from insulting an employee or an employer in
relation to each other in the course of a business relationship or of causing
harm to the goods or materials belonging to the employer at work are also
brought to the mediation before the case is filed.
Material and moral indemnity cases arising from work accidents or
occupational diseases shall not be subject to mediation in cases involving
retaliation against them.”
- What has changed with the Labor
Court Law?
According to the regulation passed in the Turkish Grand National
Assembly; if one of the parties does not attend the first meeting without a
valid excuse, the party that does not attend the meeting in the event of a
mediation event will be entirely responsible for the proceedings, even if the
case is partially or completely justified. In addition, the proxy will not be
awarded in favor of this party. Due to the fact that both sides did not attend
the first meeting,
The parties on the case will meet the costs of the proceedings
themselves. If the parties agree at the end of the mediation, the mediation fee
will be paid equally by the parties, unless otherwise agreed, according to the
specified tariff.
In the case of negotiations with the parties on the demand for return to
position, the sum of the amount of compensation to be paid in case of
non-initiation of work to the mediator, and the sum of the remuneration and
other rights to be paid for not being employed shall be deemed as agreed upon
in accordance with the second part of the declaration.
- Mediation service tariff
If the parties cannot reach agreement at the end of the mediation or the
meeting takes less than 2 hours, a 2-hour fee will be paid by the Ministry of
Justice budget, to be billed to the faulty party at the end of proceedings.
According to the Mediation Fee Schedule of 2017, if the hourly wage is 120TRY,
this figure will not be less than 240TRY.
If an employer – subcontractor relationship is present in a reinstatement
request, the employers will join the mediation talks together and will be in agreement
with each other. Essential expenses to be made by the mediation office will be
paid according to the agreement if agreement is reached at the end of the
mediation, by the parties; otherwise payment will be made by the guilty party.
- The mediator will propose
solutions
From the application date to the mediation office, until the date when
the last minute is held, the statute of limitations as well as erosion of rights
will be put on hold. The parties to the mediation negotiations will be able to
participate themselves or through their legal representatives or their lawyers.
Employees authorized by the employer in written form will also be able to
represent the employer at the meetings and sign the final minutes. Mediation
negotiations shall be carried out within the jurisdiction of the judicial
commission of the first instance judiciary, unless the parties have otherwise
agreed otherwise.
The terminated worker shall be obliged to apply for a reinstatement to
the work place within 1 month from the date of notification of termination with
the allegation that the cause of the termination has not been shown or proved
to be a valid cause.
If the parties cannot produce a solution, the mediator
may propose a solution. Mediation bureaus will be established in accordance
with the ministry to inform the applicants of mediation, appoint mediators and
perform other duties assigned by law.